The search is done against CURRENT running AUCTIONS only. (NOT completed auctions, NOT eBay Stores items, NOT Buy-It-Now only items.) (If you want to search completed auctions, use the WWW::Search::Ebay::Completed module.) (If you want to search eBay Stores, use the WWW::Search::Ebay::Stores module.)

The query is applied to TITLES only.

This module can return only the first 200 results matching your query.

In the resulting WWW::Search::Result objects, the description() field consists of a human-readable combination (joined with semicolon-space) of the Item Number; number of bids; and high bid amount (or starting bid amount).

In the resulting WWW::Search::Result objects, the end_date() field contains a human-readable DTG of when the auction is scheduled to end (in the form "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM TZ"). If environment variable TZ is set, the time will be converted to that timezone; otherwise the time will be left in ebay.com's default timezone (US/Pacific).

In the resulting WWW::Search::Result objects, the bid_count() field contains the number of bids as an integer.

In the resulting WWW::Search::Result objects, the bid_amount() field is a string containing the high bid or starting bid as a human-readable monetary value in seller-native units, e.g. "$14.95" or "GBP 6.00".

In the resulting WWW::Search::Result objects, the sold() field will be non-zero if the item has already sold. (Only if you're using WWW::Search::Ebay::Completed)

After a successful search, your search object will contain an element named 'categories' which will be a reference to an array of hashes containing names and IDs of categories and nested subcategories, and the count of items matching your query in each category and subcategory. (Special thanks to Nick Lokkju for this code!) For example:

Parses the Category list from the left side of the results page. So far, this method can handle every type of eBay search currently implemented. If you find that it doesn't suit your needs, please contact the author because it's probably just a tiny tweak that's needed.

Return a qr// pattern to match the webpage title in your webpage's language. Add grouping parenthesis so that $1 becomes the auction title, $2 becomes the eBay item number, and $3 becomes the end date.